Man "addicted to caterpillars"

Man caught trying to smuggle 15kg of caterpillars onto plane

Most of us will buy a big bag of sweets or a sandwich to keep hunger at bay on a flight. However, one man took it to the stratosphere by trying to board a plane with 15kgs of caterpillars as his mid-flight snack.

Adrian Onobanjo, 47, allegedly packed dried caterpillars in his bag to take from Togo to Europe.

When customs officers at Switzerland's EuroAirport tried to take his caterpillars away, he stuffed as many as he could into his mouth while some of them were still wriggling.

According to The Telegraph, border guard spokesman Patrick Gantenbein said: "The man obviously knew he shouldn't have been trying to bring them into the country as they were hidden under a false bottom in his suitcase and only discovered with an x-ray.

"He tried to tell us that it was a special type of root, but some of them were still moving.

"Even border guards hardened by the bizarre things we have had to deal with were shocked by this particular case."

Mr Gantenbein added that Mr Onobanjo said they were a snack, and that he was "addicted to them".

Another spokesman added: "The smell from the caterpillars that were mostly dead was pretty unbearable but it didn't seem to bother the man - and when he was told they would be kept and destroyed he grabbed as many as he could and started munching them. He said they were a delicacy and should not be wasted."

In May, a German was found with 49 live lizards in his luggage at Munich Airport, which he claimed were his "personal food supply". The man offered to bite the head off one as proof.

To be fair the caterpillars are considered a delicacy in parts of Africa. But 15 kilograms of them? On a plane? Airline food isn't THAT bad.